TALBOT HOUSE ADDRESSES ROOT CAUSE OF HOMELESSNESS.

The Kitchen is doing what it so often does in meeting a human need. It is
taking a leap of faith to start a long-term lodging and treatment home for
mentally ill and chronically alcoholic and drug-addicted men.

It could use some help, particularly from the city, to make sure the leap
has a soft landing.

In creating Talbot House, The Kitchen is making an effort to address the
root of behavior that brings complaints about the homeless on Commercial
Street.

The men who urinate or vomit in doorways, who mutter as they walk the
streets, are not just homeless. They usually have become homeless because
of an underlying addiction or mental illness.

"The people they're complaining about are the ones I'm trying to take off
the street," says Talbot House director Kay Creason. "The revolving door of
detox doesn't work for them. When they come out they're still homeless.
They're back at Victory Mission or the Missouri Hotel. They can't survive
in that environment. They're right back with their drinking buddies."

Talbot House - named for a saint who struggled mightily to overcome his
alcoholism - will provide a new environment, a structured environment where
men can put their lives back together while getting treatment. They'll be
required to commit a third of their income, stay sober, and attend a
12-step recovery program every day during the two years they may live there.

The 20-bed house opened on Monday. It was full by Tuesday, with five beds
being held for Sigma House, a treatment center. The demand for such a place
is tremendous.

Yet Talbot House was started with no assurance it will last longer than a
year. A $40,000 grant from the Daughters of Charity opened the doors.
Beyond that? Only faith.

City leaders, in talking about Jordan Valley Park, emphasize that the city
should do only those things cities traditionally do - streets, parking lots
- - while leaving baseball stadiums and arenas to the private sector.

It's a good policy, one that recognizes that a minimal city contribution
can be leveraged for greater economic development. That same policy should
be turned to human needs, too.

For too long, the city has placed all the burden of the safety net on the
private sector, especially churches and the religious. That is an
abdication of responsibility.

With a minimal contribution, whether toward support of Talbot House or
other drug and alcohol treatment efforts, the city can leverage greater
success. It can help gain state and federal money.

And by doing so, it can remove more homeless people from the street and
start them back toward a productive life. That's a proper role for the city
to play, no different than the one it plays in creating Jordan Valley Park.